Liveblog: The Verizon iPhone

By
Rob Pegoraro

NEW YORK--Few things will get me on the 7 a.m. Acela to here, but the chance to see an end to the "when will Verizon get the iPhone?" question ranks among them. Verizon Wireless's press event is scheduled to start at the Frederick P. Rose Hall here at 11 a.m., and I'll be live-blogging the news as it happens.

(Note: It's possible that there will be no such announcement coming from Verizon, and that the PR campaign kicked off with Friday's "Join us as we share the latest news" e-mail from the carrier has been an elaborate head-fake. In that case, you'll be reading a liveblog about the subsequent riot by the assembled press.)

11;30 a.m. Show's over, but we can inspect some Verizon iPhones at a demo area around the corner. Let me know what you'd like to check out in the comments.

11:28 a.m. You won't be able to have simultaneous voice and data calls, as with other CDMA phones. (I'd expect that you'd be able to use WiFi while you're on the phone, something I've done with other CDMA devices.)

11:26 a.m. Forgot to mention that Cook says the Verizon deal is "non-exclusive." Hard to read those vague adjectives. And speaking of vague, Verizon isn't talking service plans for this. That's kind of a big detail to omit.

11:25 a.m. Cook says Apple's deal with Verizon covers "many years" and is "strategic." That should not fill people hoping for a Sprint iPhone with confidence. He brushes off another question about what appears to be a slightly different design for the iPhone's antenna (subtext being, will it suffer from the "grip of death" issue that everybody was yammering about last summer, but which nobody seems to mention now?).

11:19 a.m. Now it's time for Q&A. So for those of you hoping for a Steve Jobs experience, it looks like you've been disappointed.

11:17 a.m. Verizon customers will be able to pre-order the iPhone 4 on Feb. 3. Everybody else will be able to do so on the 10th. $199 for a 16-gigabyte version, $299 for the 32 GB model. It'll include a "personal hotspot" feature allowing you to connect up to five devices.

11:12 a.m. Cook says the Verizon iPhone--already promoted on the carrier's home page--will be a CDMA/EVDO model. Meaning, no 4G on this. He gives a brief testimonial to Verizon: "wWe have enormous respect for the company this team has built and the hard-won loyalty they've won from their customers. This is just the beginning of a great relationship between Apple and Verizon."

11:09 a.m. Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook comes on stage to give Apple's side of the story. He says the iPhone "has completely changed the expectation of what you carry in your pocket" and that "all of Apple is incredibly excited" to bring it to Verizon.

11:02 a.m. "Today, two industry innovators are coming together to deliver something that consumers have been hungry for for years," says McAdam. He goes on to talk up Verizon's efforts to build out its services: "We've made network quality the hallmark of the verizon brand."

11 a.m. Verizon president and chief operating officer Lowell McAdam comes on stage to welcome the press, saying "it looks that you all are expecting a big announcement today." He is very careful not to say what the announcement is or who "our partner" is.

10:58 a.m. We've been told that the program "is about to begin"--a couple of minutes after The Daily Show's John Oliver stood up in the audience, threw his hands in the air and shouted "[Bleep] yeah!" Exciting times, it seems.

I JUST decided to go with the Droid 2 , but hadn't yet pulled the trigger, and now this. It almost sounds like it makes sense to go with the Droid 2 anyway, what with the no 4G and the probable wait and strain on the network, etc. Maybe?

"...the subsequent riot by the assembled press." I know that was a joke but is there any group in the world LESS likely to physically riot than tech journalists? Would love to see that. "Down with the pigs! I will write a strongly worded tweet!"

Glad to see the phone coming to Verizon. But wait a minute....is the iphone that is coming to verizon the 3G version and not the 3GS version!! So does that means no video?! That sucks. Yes verizon customers want an iphone but not "last year's model." Feeling kinda short changed. Anyone confirm this version WILL have video?

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